HMAS Brisbane

Sunshine Coast, Queensland

"The second HMAS Brisbane (D-41) was a Perth class guided missile destroyer laid down by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company at Bay City, Michigan, USA, on 15 February 1965, launched on 5 May 1966, and commissioned on 16 December 1967. She was christened by the wife of the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, who delivered a message to the United States and to the builders at the shipyard thanking them for their efforts. Over 5000 people witnessed the launching. While the ship was building, many crew members came to Bay City to train on the ship and prepare the ship for commissioning. Some brought along their wives and families with them. However, there was a housing shortage in the area at the time, so a call went out to local residents to assist in providing housing for these crewmen.

Her nickname was the Steel Cat. Brisbane served as plane guard for carriers on Yankee Station in the Tonkin Gulf, participated in Sea Dragon and Market Time operations, patrolled on search and rescue duties, and carried out Naval Gunfire Support missions during the conflict in Vietnam. She also escorted the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne when participating in NATO exercises in the Atlantic.

Brisbane paid off on 19 October 2001 to be sunk as a dive wreck off the coast of Queensland. Her bridge was removed and preserved at the Australian War Museum in Canberra.

Brisbane was sunk approximately 5 kilometres (3 miles) off the coast of Mudjimba, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia on Sunday, the 31 July 2005 in 30 meters (115 feet) of water. She was filled with approximately 200 tonnes of concrete. Then 38 small charges were detonated around her hull and she sank to the bottom in two and a half minutes. Queensland state Premier Peter Beattie personally threw the switch to detonate the explosives. The top of her funnels can be seen lying just three meters below the water at low tide." Source: Wikipedia